System of radiodirective control



UNITED STATES yPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, JR., OF GLOCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. l

SYSTEM OIE RA'DIODIRECTIVE CONTROL.

applicati@ med :une 15, 1912, semi Nu. 703,835.

`-To all it mag/concern.:

may be applied to the protection, of harbors" and coasts from hostileships. In my sys tem, one central station may' be equipped with radiotelegraph apparatus for-'sending v*may be under the control of a numberof out electric waves to operate suitable apparatus on torpedoes orother movable bodies, and the apparatus at said central station otherstations, suitably -situated to observe and direct the .torpedoes lorother movable bodies. Referring ,Ito the accompanying drawings Y Figure1 shows, a chart or plan of a harfbor, with torpedo-control stations,ships and torpedoes.

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic form, several auxiliary control stations anda central l station on'my system of radio directive conground returnatE,E1, E2, E3 and E?.

trol.

In Fig. 1, a central station 0 is equipped with radio telegraphapparatus and is placed ina position protected from the gun fire of theenemy. A number of operators may be placed at different advantageouspositions along the shore at stations l, 2, 3 and 4. These differentoperators will have either wire connection with station -O or etherwave, connection with stationnO, 4or any other form of electricconnection with station O.

.As shown in Fig. 1, stations 1, 2, 3 and L are connected with centralstation O, by means of the common wire N N N, with T is a torpedo supplystation. As willbe seen 1n the plan, station 1 would not be able tooperate torpedoes against a ship in the position S1 'by reason ofthe'headland H- inter;l

vening.` Nor would station 2 be fable to operate torpedoes against aship in the-.position Sfor the saine reason. Therefore, it would besuita'ble to place an o erating-base on each side of the headlandMoreoven Specication pf Letters Patent.

-- of sets of apparatus,

1 Patented Oct. 21, 1919. Renewed February 15, 1918. Serial No. 217,462.

operating station 4 would be able to direct torpedo T2 against ship S2,whereas the operators at 1, 2 and 3 could not do so by reason of the'island I intervening. It is not necessary that there should be a torpedobase having dirigible torpedoes at each of these controlling stations,for it may be understood that one torpedo can be handed on fromone-station to another.` However, if a number of'torpedoes be employedeither simultaneously or consecutively, itis essentialvthat each ofthese said torpedoes shall respond to and be controlled b-y anelectrical impulse or electric waves having specific characteristics'.Now, in order that each operator may control independently his owntorpedo, it is essential, as has been above stated, that he shall usefor the control of the said torpedo an electrical impulse of speciecharacteristics Therefore, y,at the central station O there should be aplurality ing ou-t electrical impulses or electric waves having specificcharacteristics, and all under the control of any of the auxiliaryoperating stations. For instance, Y'at station O there may be a numberof alternators having different frequencies, and energizing,respectively, oscillatory circuits also havin different frequencies of ahigher order. n this way electric waves of`various lengths, in groups orwith peri'- odic amplitude variations of diiierent frequencies, can betransmitted from the central station, and each torpedo will beresponsive to a specific wave length and a specic group frequency. Allthe sets of apparatus 'at station O can be operatively controlled fromeach of the stations l, 2, 3 and 4, and in order that these latterstations may operate simultaneously without interference, I haveinvented a method for accomplishing this result,as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 2, l, 2 and 3 represent different auxiliary operating stations.At the other end Iof the line N is situated a central wireless station Oand means for controlling cir- 4cuits containing a number of differentalternators. At station 1, is shown a form of apparatus which I havedevised for the purpose of obtaining a specific number ofelectrical'impulses or waves to be transmitted over the line. In orderto obtain the best results in multiplex telegraphy with :currentwaves ofdifferent frequencies, the

currents Should be sinusoidal, and'to secure each capable of send-` thiseifect I have designed the following apparatus: TV1 is a Wheel rotatingat a specific speed. .Eccentrically connected ivith this wheel is apistonlike mechanical movement P1 which effects a periodic compressionof the diaphragm of microphone M1. The

compression of the microphonic contact will` vary with the position ofthe Wheel l/V1, and the number of complete cycles of microphoiiic action)vill depend upon the number of revolutions of the Wheel, and in thisinanner, sinusoidal current Waves can be sent out over the line N.Vl5`1'representsa frequency meter for showing the frequency of the current Waves sent out from station 1, and E1 is a ground connection. Thespeed of VP can be varied soas to send current Waves of any desiredfrequency over the line N. At stations 2 and 3, similar apparatus tothat just described is shown at W2 and W2, P2 and P3, M2 and M2, F2 andF3, and E2 and E3, respectively.v

A battery B supplies current to stations 1, 2 and 3, and the line Nconnecting them With. the central station O. At station O, there are aplurality of tuned relays, R1, R2 and R3, each responsive to currentimpulses of a definite frequency. Taking one of these operating sets atstation O as an example, when electrical impulses or current Waves ofthe proper frequency, (from any one of the sent over the line N, thetuned Qrelay R1 will respond, the vibratory r'eed or armature r1 Willbreak contact and the circuit including the battery B1 and the relay R4,which is normally closed, Will be opened; The armature r4 Will then nolonger be attracted, but Will fall away by the action of gravity, (or bymeans of a spring or by other means), and `Will close the circuitcontaining the battery B1 and the solenoid D1. The solenoid Willtherefore attract its core d1, which latter iyill then close the circuitcontaining the al- .ternator G1 and the primary coil of step-uptransformer J 1. The secondary windings of J1 supply highpotentialcurrents to condenser C1, which, when charged to the sparking voltage atspark gap K1, discharges through K1 and inductance coil L1, and inducesoscillatory currents in the untuned antenna A by means of the couplingcoil L4. manner, there areradiated from the 'antenna A, which isgrounded at E8, electric Waves of a specic length, depending upon theperiodicity of the oscillatory circuit L1 C1, and of a specific groupfrequency, depending upon the frequency of the alternan tor G1., thethree alternators G1, G2, G2 having diffe-rent frequencies respectively.A torpedo, having suitable apparatus responsive to such Waves, Willtherefore be under the control of this set of apparatus at centralstation O, and hence under the control of any of the auxiliary stations1, 2 or 3, which In this,

caii put this central station apparatus in operation.

Relays R2 and R3 are timed to diiferent frequencies from R1 and fromeach other, and each puts in operation a set of apparatus similar tothat under the control of R1, cach set including an alternator of aspecific frequency, and an oscillatory circuit of a higher order offrequency, as will be evident from the drawings, and need not be moreparticularly described here. It may be repeated, however, that any oneofthe sets of apparatus at the central station O may' be put inoperation from any one of the auxiliary stations l, 2 or 3, and thusdi'erent torpedoes or other moving bodies may' be con- ;trolled anddirected either consecutively or `shovvn as connected with the centralstation auxiliary operating stations l, 2 or 3), are "'by a Wire Withground return, but they may also be connected by a complete metalliccircuit, or through the ether by means of suitable radio telegraphapparatus. selectivity in the electric Wave characteristics may also besecured through periodic variations in amplitude, instead of by groupfrequencies, by means of suitable apparatus such as shown and describedin other applications of mine. v

It is also obvious that various other change-s and inodiications may bemade in the particular apparatus and arrangements herein shown anddescribed, without departing yfrom the spirit of my invention, or thescope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention gl. In a system of radio control, a maincontrolling station provided with means for transmitting a plurality ofelectric Waves, having different characteristics, and a plurality oflocal stat-ions, each being provided with means to cause the maincontrolling station to produce any of said Waves of predeterminedcharacteristics.

2. ln a system of radio control, a controlling station comprising Wavetransmission apparatus "adapted to emit a plurality of Waves havingdifferent characteristics, and

means for automatically controlling said apparatus to produce any ofsaid Waves havvariable Wave transmitting apparatus and .Lampes `adaptedto actuate the r. controlling ,mechaf nism at the central station.

A system of radio control, comprising-` a main station and a pluralityoflocal sta-- ytions, the -main station comprising a plurality of-independent means 'for transmitting groups of Waves, each group havinga'. predetermined group frequency and com-iA posed of Waves having apredetermined` length, each of said transmitting means beingunder thecontrol of anindependlent control device, and the local stations eachcomprising variable Wave transmitting mechanism adapted -to actuate anyprede.-

termined control device at the mainstation.4

4. The method for transmission of elec- I trora'fliant energy whichconsists in productransmitting Waves havin 30 ing a current in acircuit, varying the current at any one of several local stations on.

said circuit, selectively. operating by means of such currentAvariations an-y. of several electroradiant energy transmitters foremitaplurality of series of Waveshaving tin diftgerent characteristicsrespectively, t

5. A system of teledynamic control, coinprising a main station-and aplurality of auxiliary stations, the main station comprising aIplurality of independent means for predetermined characteristics, eachof`said transmitting means being under thecontrol of an independentcontrol device, andl the auxiliary stations Icomprising transmittingapparatus includin a variable speedwave transmitter adapte to actuateany ofthe control devices at the main station.

6: In a system of teledynamic control, a mainl station and a pluralityof auxiliary stations, said main station comprising means fortransmitting a plurality'of electric Wave trains, each `wave trainhaving a plurality of characteristics, and each of said auxiliarystations comprising apparatus, includ-4 in a variable-speed sinusoidalWave transmitter, adapted to cause the emission of any 'desired Wavetrain from themain station,

and -a frequency-indicating device connected with said variable-speedWave transmitter. 7. In a system for the transmission of energy, thecombination Withmeans. for transmitting. a plurality of series ofWaves,.

of an electric'circuit, means for producing periodic variations in anelectric current in said circuit and forvarying the frequency of saidvariations, and means selectively controlled by varying the frequency ofsaid variations for causing said first-mentioned a plurality of "meansto transmit any one of said 'series of- Waves.'

8, In a system for the transmission of energy, the combination withmeans for transmitting-a pluralityiof 'Waves having .diEerent wavefrequencies respectively, of `an 'electric circuit, means for producingperiodic-variations in an electric current in said circuit and forvarying the frequency of said variations, and means selectivelycontrolled lby varying the frequency of said .variations for causingsaid first-mentioned means to' transmit anyone of said series of waves.

9. Ina systemvfor transmitting energy; 'l

frequencies respectively, an electric circuit, means for periodicallymodifying at a variable frequency and at any. one of a plurality .ofstations von said circuit. an electric current in said circuit, andmeans 'controlled by avariation in said frequenc at .any one of saidstations for causing sai open circuit to emit any one of said series ofgroups of radiant oscillations selectively.

11. The method lfor the transmission of radiant energy, which consistsin producing an electric vcurrent in a circuit, periodically varyingsaid current at any one of a plurality of stations on said circuit, andat any one of a pluralityv of predetermined frequencies at each station,and selectively causin the transmission of any one of a plurality ofseries of'groups of Waves having different Wave frequencies anddifferent group frequencies respectively as the result` of suchvariation of said current.

This specification signed and witnessed this'22nd day of May, ALD-1912.`1

'JoHNHAY-s HAMMOND, JR.

` Witnesses;

MABEL-J. COOPER, OLIVE B. KING.

